Crazy Cache rescue Attempt

Yesterday I learned that an area that I had a cache hidden was completely underwater. My first thought was the fact that I had wired it to the tree where hidden. Well I decided to go take a look and see how bad it was because I couldn't stop thinking about it do to the fact that there was a couple travel bugs still in the cache and I just coudn't let them get washed away. Myself, wife and kids loaded up and head over to Field of Dreams Travel Bug Hotel and realized the cache was under about 4 1/2 to 5 feet of water. I was like wow! I took a deep breath and started off into the high and cold water. I had cell phone in one hand and GPS in the other. I was 350 feet when I started walking through the water and by the time I was with in 100 feet the water was somewhere around my belt line. Thank god it wasn't running water or I think I would have been washed away. I kept on trucking through the wood toward the cache and now I'm about 25 feet from it and now the water was chest high. I managed to climb my way through trees and what else managed to be floating in the area. I still had my GPS in one hand and now I was bitting down on my cell phone so I could free up one hand to help my way through all the trees and brush. Finally I made it to what was GZ and I was trying to feel with my foot at the base of the tree I had wired the cache to learn that the cache was gone and now floating around in the woods. I managed to float around a little trying to look for a floating amo can but came up empty handed. I had to cut the rescue attemp short do to limited light and I felt as if I was getting hyperthurmia from the cold water. I now could feel my legs stinging and it caused me to panic a little and I turned around to start heading back and the woods now looked the same in all directions and I really started freaking out. I then heard a horn honk which ended up being my wife. She thought it was taking to long and was worried. Thank god she honked it gave me a direction to start moving toward. The whole time all I had to do is just look at my GPS and figure out what direction to travel. Well after a few minutes I made it out of the wood and now I was wadding through the water heading toward the truck which seemed to take forever to get to. I was extreamly cold, wet and tired. I did all this to rescue someones travel bugs from being lost. I plan on going back out there tomorrow sense the water had receeded to search through the woods for my ammo can. My great friend WoodWalker told me he would put on his rubber boots and help. So if you happen to drive through Ward AR tomorrow and see to guys completely covered with mud it just might be us. Hopefully we can find it and give this short story a good ending. Check back tomorrow night to find out if we find it or not....

Good luck in your search. I was notified yesterday that a cache of mine was MIA and I wasn't concerned as much for the cache as the travel bug of Golfnutz inside. I went as soon as I got off this morning to GZ in the pouring down torrential rainfall in a desperate search for the cache. No cache. No cache in the immediate area. As I was walking down the road cold, wet, and dejected I came across my pilfered ammo box thrown out off the beaten path. It was one that was locked and the hasp had been pried off and broken. (This particular ammo box was not in an area that someone would happen up on either and was very well hidden with only the area of GZ showing any evidence of anyone even being there). I found bits and pieces of what used to be the contents of the box scattered about down the road as well. Sadly, I finally found Golfnutz M & M Travel Bug that had the tag ripped off the sturdy chain he had it to secured to. Obviously I really feel this was not an accidental discovery and plundering as the "Cache Pirate" took the TB tag off the traveler as a trophy (it was really connected well and didn't simply fall off) and I feel horrible for Golfnutz. I'd be lying if I didn't admit it made me a "little" as well. I hope your MIA cache box turns up with a happier ending than mine.

Cache Pirate? Are you saying that there are people out there that "raid" caches? This is new to me.... more info, please?

Although I am not 100% sure that is what happened to my cache, the stolen travel bug tag led me to that train of thought. The definition of a Cache pirate according to Cacheopedia is:

"Someone who actively plunders geocaches, taking any trade items, geocoins, or travel bugs for his or her own collection."

Further reading's reporting that pirates sometimes just go "steal" or even "re-locate" the geocache where the next hunter will be unable to find it. I guess sometimes this may be a muggle making an accidental find and attributed to a "Pirate" or simply an accidental relocation or "honest" mistake in replacing the cache. It is quite possible that a muggle went to an out-of-the way place, waded through a new crop of Poison Ivy all around GZ, moved some large limbs, and moved the pine straw away to make the find on my cache described above AND decided not move or disturb anything else in the entire area. It is possible, I guess. If they were going to steal the cache though- steal it- don't just destroy it and then "pillage" the poor travel bug and steal his tag and leaving him sitting upright in plain sight with his chain hanging down missing the tag. I will never know the truth I am sure, it is just aggravating. A cacher in a nearby town told me he continued to have ammo boxes stolen on a semi-constant basis. His suggestion was to A) make them available to Premium Members only or B) "fudge on the coordinates" making it necessary to contact the owner to find the cache. He opted with "B". I finally asked for help after searching the area several different times on one of his caches without success and he then told me the story. The geocache was actually across the road and then some 60 feet down the road from where GZ was on two separate GPSr's I checked it with. I don't guess there is a correct answer to the problem. Some people seek thrills in different ways I guess. Just really leaves a sour taste in your mouth when you go to the trouble and expense to place a cache and then have it blatantly destroyed and placed on display as some sort of mockery. Oh well, I'm off the box now.

A year or so ago, all of the caches in the cemeteries in Benton went missing. I don't know the exact time of this, but it was in the not too distant past. My understanding of this, is that they all disappeared at the same time. I guess it's just the chance we take when we hide them. If it gets to be a big problem, we could just all start hiding them like Hick. He knows who finds all of his, because the only ones who do, are the people who called him for some help! :
I do have some trail cams for hunting, that I could set out for a trap if it started happening around here. Hmmmm......

Guess what?! I got a fever, and the only prescription...is more cowbell!!

Hey, guys, thanks for the info..... I guess the innocent in me just never thought of someone doing such foolishness. Hum?

L2C1 has some of those game cameras also, but hope we never need them.

Arkfiremedic, so sorry that this has happened to you. We have a few TBs and would be sad if this happened to them. The parents of the grandkids they are named for are enjoying watching where their babies are traveling. {)

A cacher in a nearby town told me he continued to have ammo boxes stolen on a semi-constant basis. His suggestion was to A) make them available to Premium Members only or B) "fudge on the coordinates" making it necessary to contact the owner to find the cache. He opted with "B".

"Fudging on the coordinates" is prohibited by Geocaching.com. When a cacher submits a geocache for review, they are obligated to provide accurate coordinates to the reveiwer. This is to ensure that a proper review is performed of the cache location against the Cache Listing Requirements / Guidelines. Additionally, except in the Delorme Challenge and County Challenge series caches, caches are not allowed which intentionally require the geocacher to have to contact the cache owner to get accurate coordinates. Violations of this may result in immediate archival of the offending cache.

If you are having problems with cache theft or vandalism, I recommend that you make the cache either a Premium Members Only cache OR make it a puzzle cache so that some work / research is required to determine the actual coordinates.

Chuck Walla
Geocaching.com Volunteer Cache Reviewer

"Volunteering is for suckers. Did you know that volunteers don't even get paid for the stuff they do?" -- Homer Simpson